No more pennies soon ?

Doug · May 22, 2006

legislators are pushing bills to kill production as it now costs 1.4 cents to make a penny with skyrocketing metals prices. They are 97.5% zinc, 2.5% copper.

Even the nickel ( 75% copper) is in trouble. Copper about $3.60/ lb now. Pre 1982 cents clearly worth more as metal.

some prices:

http://www.metalprices.com/

Fishhead · May 22, 2006

What percentage of copper are pre-1982 pennies?

Dante · May 22, 2006

LOVE this idea....they should just round change up or down to the nearest .05 cent

pennies are crap

Doug · May 22, 2006

Fishhead said:
What percentage of copper are pre-1982 pennies?

about 95%, I think about 150 to a pound.

charleslanger · May 22, 2006

Doug said:
legislators are pushing bills to kill production as it now costs 1.4 cents to make a penny with skyrocketing metals prices. They are 97.5% zinc, 2.5% copper.

Even the nickel ( 75% copper) is in trouble. Copper about $3.60/ lb now. Pre 1982 cents clearly worth more as metal.

some prices:

http://www.metalprices.com/

One big crime problem on our south border: the much cheaper Mexican coins smggled & melted for a profit....

Doug · May 22, 2006

Dante said:
LOVE this idea....they should just round change up or down to the nearest .05 cent

pennies are crap

They'd round up or down, use cents for debit and credit electronic stuff. The only way it doesn't happen is if the price of zinc falls.

Kids that swallow pennies are at health risks ( more so than with copper) because the zinc is bad stuff to ingest.

charleslanger · May 22, 2006

Speakin' of swallowing & pennies-- if ya wanna know what an ass tastes like, like a penny...exact match!!!!!!!!

gatorhater · May 22, 2006

charleslanger said:
Speakin' of swallowing & pennies-- if ya wanna know what an ass tastes like, like a penny...exact match!!!!!!!!

Ill take your word for it, tossed salad is not on my menu

Fishhead · May 22, 2006

Doug said:
about 95%, I think about 150 to a pound.

So 150 pre-1982 pennies are worth about $3.00 in copper?

This resembles a 100% bonus, correct?

CHOPTALK · May 22, 2006

just make the pennys out of alluminum.

Doug · May 22, 2006

Fishhead said:
So 150 pre-1982 pennies are worth about $3.00 in copper?

This resembles a 100% bonus, correct?

You'd need massive quantities of cents, and have to sort them manually, not worth the time for the return. I know of no way to sort them otherwise, nothing magnetic would work.

Pre 1965 dimes, quarters, and halves are worth something like 8-10 X face value, but you won't many ( they are 90% silver). They stand out by their color difference.

Doug · May 22, 2006

CHOPTALK said:
just make the pennys out of alluminum.

They tried that in the 70's, made a few patterns, some Congressmen stole a few, they are very valuable, copper came down in price, then zinc was used since 82.

aluminum ain't cheap either. There's nothing left that's cheap enough to use as metal, and suitable.

Doug · May 22, 2006

CHOPTALK said:
just make the pennys out of alluminum.

There's some around, they trade illegally, can't be auctioned.

http://www.coinworld.com/news/031901/news-3.asp

Fishhead · May 22, 2006

Are you a coin collector Doug?

Doug · May 22, 2006

I used to collect, sold out a long time ago, but keep up with the hobby, and have a great deal of knowledge about US coins.

Fishhead · May 22, 2006

Kewl

Tulsa · May 22, 2006

GET rid of pennies. Pennies are just not worthwhile.

tulsa

JakeT. · May 22, 2006

Doug said:
There's some around, they trade illegally, can't be auctioned.

http://www.coinworld.com/news/031901/news-3.asp

Let's say I had an aluminum penny... What is it worth and how would I sell it?

Assuming I had one of course... :103631605

Doug · May 22, 2006

jakethompson said:
Let's say I had an aluminum penny... What is it worth and how would I sell it?

Assuming I had one of course...

Very hard to put a value on it, as there are no records of what others have traded for. It's worth what the seller and buyer agree upon. My guess is upwards of 10k, perhaps 100k ?

You'd need the help of a dealer ( a shady one), to find a buyer, assuming you don't know someone that wants to buy it.

It cannot be sold at auction or the secret service would likely seize it, that's how legitimate big time rarities are sold ( usually).

CHOPTALK · May 22, 2006

Pennys may be a pain in the ass but they serve a purpose and I would hate for them to get voted down. If you only use 5cent increments the price of just about everything will go up.

Lets say the Price of gas is $3.00. If they got rid of penny insteed of going up to $3.01 or $3.02 per gallon they would have to go up to $3.05 per gallon. I know that does not sound like much but when you have simialar examples on small purchases 5 times per day and dozens of times per month it adds up to alot of money at the end of the year.

How would they charge 6% sales taxes on a bottle of soda at the 7-11. Would they charge you a nickle or a dime? You see, we do need pennys.

No more pennies soon ?

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